Time & Distance... and talent @AMPLYFi
Friday, March 4th, 2011 featured CHRISTOPHER CAPLAN, Kota Wade, and TIME AND DISTANCE.
When the original headliner, The Perfect Victim, had to reschedule due to their awesome success in a battle of the bands competition, we weren't sure what would happen to the night featuring a band from West Virgina who hadn't played Hollywood in years plus an AMPLYFi newcomer.
No worries, these guys are all pros!
CHRISTOPHER CAPLAN took the stage, one man, a guitar, and a nice little combo amp. We've seen the "guy with a guitar" act a million times, but Chris is a special performer. He started with a Jimi Hendrix cover, infused himself into it, then, impossibly, kept the energy up through a great set of covers and originals. His vocal range was beautiful. If you can imagine someone from Jimi to Tom Waits and beyond, you've got Chris. Perfectly balanced against his soulful vocals was guitarwork both delicate and forceful. Chris, as a performer, knows the perfect recipe of strong and intimate vocals countering clean, soft, and dominating guitar and he used both to share with us his brilliant songwriting abilities.
As a secret weapon, Chris brought Nikki on stage to duet for a few songs, including cowritten works the audience loved. Nikki's beautiful voice blended with Chris and the guitar, making a great performance amazing.
KOTA WADE gave a very special performance of some original songs. The songs were fun, pop and upbeat, so much so that the audience was singing along as if they'd heard them on the radio in heavy rotation. Kota's got a fun, professional, and playful manner which gets the audience on her side whether she's rockin down the house, or taking the stage SOLO. What makes this show special was that not only was this the debut appearance of her new Daisy Rock guitar, but Kota revealed to the audience that this was her first ever show playing guitar fro an audience. Judging by how much the fans loved it, we're sure we'll see more of Kota and her guitar.
TIME AND DISTANCE is touring the US and had been scheduled to be the support band of the night. When they arrived at AMPLYFi, they were offered the headliner spot to fill in for the original headliner.
T&D stepped up. A four piece, taking the stage in front of a crowd of locals, most of whom had never seen them perform, T&D were as professional as you can get. From their first song, we knew they meant business. This is straight rock and roll... two guitars, a bass, and drums. With a quick soundcheck, the levels perfect almost as if they lived on this stage, they hit the stage and hit it hard.
If you were anywhere near LA, and you heard rock music you couldn't explain, it was probably the sound of T&D at AMPLYFi. These guys were so clean and so tight... and so loud-- but a good loud. Rock&Roll loud. We are BIG fans of T&D. The headliner spot was thrust upon them, and they delivered. Song after song, the audience fell more and more in love with T&D.
AMPLYFi has had some incredible acts hit our stage, and we're adding TIME & DISTANCE, all the way from West Virginia, to our list of greats.